Illuminated sign letter



Jan. 7, 1936. R. A. LUNA ILLUMINATED sIcTN LETTER Filed May 16, 1934INVENTOR.

ROME A. L UNA 4 3 u" 1 4 m 7 e 15 25 Patented Jan. 7, 1936 ILLUMINATEDSIGN LETTER RomeA. Luna, San Francisco, Calif.

Application May 16, 1934, Serial No. 725,915

3 Claims.

This invention relates particularly to an illuminated sign letter t o beused for display or advertising purposes, and wherein said illuminatedletter will be substantially as visible in the day- 5. time as in thenighttime.

An object of the invention is to provide a sign letter formed of atransparent or translucent sheet of material having a letter or symbolembossed or formed in l a neon illuminating exterior of the letterrelief thereon, within which tube is confined, and the around theembossed or relief portion, outlined by an opaque covering.

A further object of the invention is to provide a sign consisting of anopen front housing of opaque material,

within which a translucent of the housing, said translucent memberhaving a neon illuminating tube arranged therein,

and the rear part of the housing having a back- I ing member supportedthereon to maintain the neon illuminating tube in operative positionrelative to the translucent material in the front portion of thehousing.

A further object of the invention is to provide a neon illuminateddisplay that will be superior in point of simplicity, inexpensiveness ofconstruction, positiveness of operation, and facility and convenience inuse and general efficiency.

In this specification and the annexed drawing, the invention isillustrated in the form considered to be the best, but it is to beunderstood that the invention is not limited to such form, because itmay be embodied in other forms; and it is also to be understood that inand by the claims following the cover the invention be embodied.

description, it is desired to in whatsoever form it may In theaccompanying drawing:

sign constructed in tion.

Fig. 1 represents a front elevation of a display accordance with myinven- Fig. 2 is a vertical cross section taken on the line 2-2 ofFig. 1. a

with neon or other like gases, are particularly effective in nighttimebut practically valueless for daytime purposes. like display media,

. An advertising sign or other which may be efiicient for nighttimeusage is non-effective for daytime usage, and vice versa, thus in manyinstances, two independent signs or displays are required, one fordaytime purposes and the other for nighttime purposes. prises thesubject matter of this invention, is adapted for both daytime andnighttime use, and the one sign'is equally effective for both purposes.

In detail the construction illustrated in the 5% drawing comprises abox-like housing or casing I, having an open back 2, and a front 3, aportion of which is cut away at 4 in the form of an outline of. anyletter or symbol which is to be supported within the housing.

The interior of the casing I, on the rear side thereof, is provided withthreaded studs 5 on which a backing plate 6 is mounted and held on thestuds by means of nuts, in a conventional manner. The face of thebacking plate 6 with- 11-.) in the housing I, is lined with asbestos I,or other equivalent non-conducting and non-inflammable material.

A sheet of transparent or translucent material 8 is adapted to beconfined within the housing I, between the asbestos covered backingplate 6 and the front wall 3 of said housing. The plate 8 is preferablyformed of glass or other like material possessing light refractingproperties. The sheet 8 is provided with a raised or embossed letter 9thereon, said letter being indicated in the drawing as the letter I orthe numeral I. The sheet 8 has the letter 9 molded or otherwise formedtherein, so that the sides and ends of the raised letter are beveled asat I0, and the front face 35 II of the letter lies in a plane parallelto the rear face of the said sheet. The raised or embossed letter 9 isof a size which conforms precisely to the area of the aperture 4 cut inthe front wall 3 of the housingv I, so that the aperture 4 in thehousing will outline and define the letter 9.

The neon tube l2, or other like tube containing an illuminated gas, isarranged within the raised portion of the letter 9 so that theilluminating portion of the tube is confined between the under side ofthe letter 9 and the asbestos covering on the backing plate 6. Theopposite ends of the tube I2 project out thru the rear side of the plate6, and terminate in porcelain bushings [3, each of which containsterminals connected by the respective wires I4 and I5, to a source ofelectrical energy.

Whatever letter or symbol it is desired to outline, is first molded orotherwise formed in the 5 The display sign which comsheet 8 by embossingor raising the same thereon, and the aperture 4 in the front wall of thehousing I has its, perimeter formed to correspond to the exact outlineof the raised letter which it is to receive. The sheet 8 is formed oftranslucent material which is preferably of a clifierent color than thatof the opaque front wall 3 of the housing i, wherein the lettersupported in the aperture of the housing will be visible in the daytime,and even the not illuminated by the neon tube therein.

The illumination given oil by the neon tube i2 is practicallyundiminished or minimized to' any degree by the translucent letter whichcovers it, so that for nighttime illumination, the light given off bythe tube I2 is amplified to a great extent by the translucent letter.For daytime illumination purposes, the translucent glass comprising theletter which encloses the tube, likewise materially intensifies thelight rays given off by the tube and makes the letter or symbol readilyvisible.

The opaque material of the housing which outlines the translucent letteralso accentuates the visibility of the letter or display. The refractiveproperties of the translucent sheet 8 are increased by the angularity ofthe side and end walls of the letter, enabling the letter to beparticularly effective from a point of visibility both in the daytimeand nighttime.

The studs 5 in the housing are so disposed that the ends of the sheet 8on which the letter 9 is formed are supported around said studs to thusposition the letter in operative spaced relation to the neon tube andthe backing member.

Having thus described this invention, what I claim and desire to secureby Letters Patent is:

1. A device of the character described comprising, an opaque platehaving an aperture therein formed in the outline of a selected symbol; atranslucent sheet having a symbol enibossed thereon and conforming tothe outline of the aperture; a closure arranged on the rear side of theplate having the aperture therein; and a tube containing illuminatinggas having 6 its opposite terminals supported on the closure and themediate portion thereof being formed to match the contour of the symboland being confined on the rear side of the translucent sheet within saidembossed symbol. 1

' 2. A device of the character described comprising, a plate having anaperture therein formed in the outline of a selected symbol; atranslucent sheet having a symbol embossed thereon and conforming to theoutline of the aperture; a closure arranged in spaced parallel relationto the rear side of said translucent sheet;

a sheet of insulating material on the side of the closure facing thetranslucent sheet; and a tube containing illuminating gas matching thecontour of the symbol and nested between the embossed symbol and theclosure and resting upon said insulating material.

3. A device of the character described comprising, a plate having anaperture therein formed in the outline of a selected symbol; atranslucent sheet having a symbol embossed thereon and conforming to theoutline of the aperture; a closure arranged in spaced parallel relationto the rear side of said translucent sheet; means on the plate to holdthe sheet and closure in position thereon; a tube containingilluminating gas matching the contour of the symbol and nested betweenthe embossed symbol and the closure, the terminals of said tube beingsecured to said closure; and means connecting the tube terminals to asource of electrical energy.

ROME A. LUNA.

